I've been incarcerated 12 years: 6.5 awaiting trial and 5.5 in prison. My family really doesn't know what this place is like, so they don't understand the dangers.  Or, perhaps they do, but we don't talk about it. There is little they can do about it anyway, so I don't want to depress them.

Kevin Rashid Johnson speaks about his experience at Pendleton Correctional Facility in Indiana before being transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, also in Indiana. He discusses inadequate access to soap and hand sanitizer, nutritious food, and PPE. His new facility in Wabash, he says, is better about precautions but guards still come in and out without being subjected to the same quarantine and testing measures as inmates.

"No one should be told that their love is too expensive." An affected single mother speaks out against the high cost of phone calls to her incarcerated husband. This is particularly worrisome, because he already suffers from issues with his health. The inability to communicate has left her feeling helpless and frustrated.

Mr. Mason describes current conditions from inside and discusses what's needed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in prisons and jails.

Michael Powell Jr. speaking from Marion Correctional Institution about how COVID has impacted life inside. He touches on the cramped conditions and lack of recreation due to lockdown, and worries about how this will affect tensions.

This institution is allowing its employees to deprive the inmates (us) of our human rights/constitutional rights. Like most of the time, we are only given the opportunity to shower twice and sometimes once a week! We are being denied adequate cleaning tools and supplies during this COVID-19 era! We are being fed on old trays that have old food stuck to it, meaning we are being fed on dirty trays. Most times, we are not being fed the proper amount of food and are often being served unauthorized, uncoordinated and unacceptable substitutions. We are being denied dayroom and recreation privileges/rights and other things as well.

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: Chrystal Camacho, daughter of Henry Camacho who passed away after contracting coronavirus in Sumter Correctional Institution in Florida, gives a speech at a public funeral held at the state capitol in Tallahassee to honor all the incarcerated lives lost to Covid-19 in Florida prisons and detention centers. Chrystal Camacho’s speech from 8/22/2020 transcribed: “L15812 […]

Testimony from an incarcerated person in Washington State Prison, Georgia On July 3, 2020 I knew I was in trouble. I had been sick for a couple days and now had most of the known symptoms. My roommate had the same thing. I tried to fight it off because most people were beating it in […]

“Y’all see us like we’re not human.” While hundreds of prisons across the country fail to provide adequate protections and honor health regulations during the pandemic, the incarcerated find themselves having to plead their case to the court of public opinion. Lavontaye Graham presents a case calling for compassion, bemoaning the indifference felt by too many in regards to the safety of those locked in a "pitri dish for disaster."

Just because a County Commissioner won't call it slavery, doesn't mean it isn't... Frequently Asked Questions on Prison Slave Labor in Florida